Meeting Someone On ‘The Catch’ App Means Going Out, Not Chatting

You know what’s more fun than swiping right on Tinder? Actually hooking up. That’s why new dating game The Catch tries to by-pass the chat phase and get you and your prospective bae to meet up.

The Catch is like a digital version of the old 60’s TV show The Dating Game. It goes like this:

Women set age and location preferences, browse guys’ profiles on The Catch, and invite a few to play with them. The first four chaps who agree become the contestants. Women ask three questions that the guys answer, but the women don’t see who said what when they’re rating their responses. The last question is always pre-filled as “Where would you take me out on a first date?”

Whichever guy scores the highest across the three rounds is connected with the woman and they schedule the suggested date.

There are no pick up lines, no endless swiping, and hopefully fewer chat threads that go nowhere. Finally, there’s a dating app for guys like me that aren’t as easy on the eyes but can at least write in complete sentences.

The Catch’s founder Shannon Ong says her bootstrapped app is special because “a woman gets to ask questions she cares about, and she gets put on a pedestal.”

“Guys don’t have to spend a ton of time going through profiles and getting rejected,” she said. In the alpha test, at least 20% of of games ended with people going on a date.

The Catch launches on the web and mobile web this week in the San Francisco Bay Area. No matter where you live, you can sign up for the waitlist here.

It’s already got a few thousand people on the waitlist thanks to some in-person events and Ong’s relationships with local singles groups and sororities. More cities will unlock according to demand, and the iPhone app will come out next month. For now you can check out its “OK Trends”-style dating tips blog.

The Catch will compete with Tinder, but also other dating startups similarly focused on finding you someone you’re actually compatible with like Hinge or yuppies-only app The League. Plus there’s a few like Whim, Clover, and How About We that promise on-demand dating.

Some might find The Catch’s extra friction boring compared to quietly judging people with the flick of a thumb but if it gets us in the same room with people we can tolerate being in the same room with, The Catch will be a welcome change.